ATLANTA — Charlie Morton estimates that he and Max Fried had at least 30-40 conversations between last April and July. The latter mining through things with the veteran, searching for answers and consistency.
“When I was around him talking pitching, you could tell he hadn’t really decided or discovered exactly what worked,” the veteran Morton. “One game he’d go out and you could tell he’d try to attack the inner half, attack the inner third, like really spot up and then cut guys off. Kind of get cute.”
Fried had an 11.45 ERA in April, and by the All-Star break, only six National League starters had a higher ERA than the left-hander’s 4.